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Wild Mammals Roamed When Covid Kept Humans Home

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Wild Mammals Roamed When Covid Kept Humans Home

Many previous studies have shown that roads can alter the behavior of wild animals. But it has been difficult to disentangle the effects of permanent changes to the landscape, such as clearing forests to build a freeway, from the effects of daily human activity, such as rush-hour traffic.

During the early weeks and months of the pandemic, the cars disappeared while the roads, of course, remained, allowing scientists to tease out the effects of traffic. The new findings reinforce those from smaller, more localized pandemic-era studies, providing further evidence that many wild animals change their behavior — and quickly — when cars disappear.

In some ways that is good news, suggesting that even temporary limits on traffic — in critical habitats during certain breeding or migration seasons, for example — could have benefits for animals, Dr. Tucker said. “It shows that animals still have this flexibility or ability to adapt their behavior in response to us,” she said.

The sudden global decline in human movement that followed the arrival of Covid-19 is sometimes called the “anthropause.” Scientists around the world used it as an opportunity to learn more about how humans affect the natural world and what happens when they disappear.

The new study is a product of the Covid-19 Bio-Logging Initiative, which began in 2020. After the shutdowns began, scientists who were already tracking wild animal movements for their own research projects began working together, compiling their data to learn more about animal movements during the pandemic. In total, more than 600 researchers have contributed more than a billion location records for roughly 13,000 animals across 200 species, said Christian Rutz, a behavioral ecologist at the University of St. Andrews in Scotland and the chair of the initiative, which is pursuing multiple lines of investigation.

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In the new Science study, researchers compared the movements of terrestrial mammals during the initial lockdowns, which began between Feb. 1 and April 28, 2020, with their movements during the same period in 2019. Although the researchers uncovered some general trends, they also documented considerable variability, finding stronger effects in some species and regions than in others.

The researchers are interested in investigating what happened after the lockdowns eased and whether wild mammals reverted to their previous movement patterns as humans returned to their normal activities.

The bio-logging initiative is continuing and should be ready to publish more results about both bird and mammal movements soon, Dr. Rutz said in an email. “It’s so exciting to be able to share these findings after a three-year journey,” he said. “And we are already thinking about next steps for investigating human-wildlife interactions.”

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Ivanka Trump stays fit with this self-defense practice: ‘Moving meditation’

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Ivanka Trump stays fit with this self-defense practice: ‘Moving meditation’

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Ivanka Trump, the daughter of incoming President Donald Trump, has been known to lead an active life.

As the mother of three kids and a lover of outdoor sports, the 43-year-old is always on the move, recently adding jiu-jitsu to her mix of physical activity.

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In a recent appearance on The Skinny Confidential Him & Her podcast, Trump shared how her daughter, Arabella, expressed interest in learning self-defense when she was 11.

IVANKA TRUMP SHARES THE FITNESS ROUTINE THAT HAS ‘TRANSFORMED’ HER BODY: ‘SAFE AND STEADY’

“I’m just so in awe of [her],” Trump said about her daughter. “She came to me and said, ‘As a woman, I feel like I need to know how to defend myself, and I don’t have a confidence level yet that I can do that.’”

Ivanka Trump plays with her daughter, Arabella Rose Kushner, in the Rose Garden during a Congressional Picnic on the South Lawn of the White House in June 2017. (Alex Wong/Getty Images)

Trump responded, “At 11 … I was not thinking about how to physically defend myself, and I thought it was the coolest thing.”

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After researching self-defense options, Trump enrolled Arabella, now 13, in jiu-jitsu (martial arts) classes with the Valente Brothers in Miami, Florida – and soon the whole family joined in.

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“[Arabella] started asking me to join – I joined,” she said. “Then my two sons wanted to do what their older sister was doing. Then my husband joined … It is good for everyone.”

“It’s almost like a moving meditation.”

Trump, who is now a blue belt in jiu-jitsu, described that she likes how the sport “meshes physical movement.”

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“It’s almost like a moving meditation because the movements are so micro,” she said. “It’s like three-dimensional chess.”

“There’s like a real spiritualism to it … The grounding in sort of samurai tradition and culture and wisdom.”

During President Trump’s first term in the White House, Ivanka Trump noted that she had very little focus on fitness, only taking weekly runs with husband Jared Kushner and “chasing the kids around the house.”

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Trump shared that she was “never a gym person,” but always loved sports, which still holds true today.

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She said she enjoys skiing, surfing and racquet sports like padel tennis (a hybrid of tennis and squash) and pickle ball, which she described as “fun and social.”

Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushner are seen out for a walk

Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushner are seen out for a walk with their children on Dec. 10, 2022, in Miami, Florida. (MEGA/GC Images)

‘Elevating awareness’

On the podcast, Trump said she was drawn to jiu-jitsu because it combines physical fitness and philosophy.

It also focuses more on how to extract yourself from a dangerous situation before having to harm someone who’s a threat, she noted.

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“Having these skills makes you less likely to get into a fight, not more likely to,” Trump went on.

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“Once you have the confidence that you can sort of move out of a situation, there’s a real focus on elevating awareness.”

ivanka trump waves

Ivanka Trump waves as she arrives at Joint Base Andrews in Maryland for US President Donald Trump’s departure on Jan. 20, 2021. (ALEX EDELMAN/AFP via Getty Images)

In a previous interview with Fox News Digital, Rener Gracie, head instructor of jiu-jitsu at Gracie University in California, stressed that the only truly reliable skills are those that have been “mastered into muscle memory.”

This occurs through extensively practicing self-defense methods like Brazilian jiu-jitsu, which are “leverage-based and don’t rely on you having a physical advantage over the subject,” he noted.

“Having these skills makes you less likely to get into a fight, not more likely to.”

“And by that, I mean strength, speed, power and size — because in almost every case, the attacker is going to target someone who they feel is physically inferior to them.”

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Gracie, whose family created Brazilian jiu-jitsu and the UFC (Ultimate Fighting Championship), shared that jiu-jitsu is “highly sought after” because it only takes weeks or months for someone to “develop the core skills that could keep them safe in a violent physical encounter.”

‘Transformative’ strength training

In addition to mastering self-defense skills, Ivanka Trump recently revealed a shift in her fitness routine to include weightlifting and resistance training.

On Instagram, Trump posted a video displaying different exercises with various equipment in the gym, noting in the caption that she used to focus primarily on cardio, yoga and Pilates.

“Since moving to Miami, I have shifted my focus to weightlifting and resistance training, and it has been transformative in helping me build muscle and shift my body composition in ways I hadn’t imagined,” she wrote.

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“I believe in a strength training approach built on foundational, time-tested and simple movements – squats, deadlifts, hinges, pushes and pulls. These are the cornerstones of my workout, emphasizing functional strength for life.”

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Trump added that prioritizing form is “essential” to ensure results before adding on weight.

“This ensures a safe and steady progression while maintaining the integrity of each movement,” she continued. “I incorporate mobility work within my sessions to enhance range of motion.”

Ivanka Trump workout

“I believe in a strength training approach built on foundational, time-tested and simple movements – squats, deadlifts, hinges, pushes and pulls,” Ivanka Trump wrote in an October Instagram post. (Ivanka Trump/Instagram)

“Weightlifting has enhanced not just my strength but my overall athleticism and resilience,” she added.

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Trump said she dedicates three to four days a week to strength training, including two solo sessions and two with a personal trainer.

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She also said that increasing her protein intake has also been “critical” to her progress.

“I now consume between 30 and 50 grams of protein a meal,” she said. “It works … I’ve never been stronger!”

Jared Kushner and Ivanka Trump in miami

Jared Kushner and Ivanka Trump are seen arriving at the beachside eatery on May 2, 2024, in Miami Beach, Florida. (MEGA/GC Images)

Trump also still enjoys weekly yoga sessions, spending time outdoors with her children and playing sports with friends, she said.

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“I also incorporate a couple of short (10-minute), high-intensity interval training sessions (such as sprints) each week to keep my cardiovascular fitness sharp and dynamic,” she noted.

“This balanced approach has infused new energy into my fitness routine and yielded great results.”

Fox News Digital reached out to Ivanka Trump for comment.

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Semaglutide Pills and Injections Vs. Drops: Experts Weigh In | Woman's World

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